


Music, Birthdays, And What It Means To Be Home

by SammyBoi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Birthday, M/M, Makoto's family is briefly mentioned but its not central, Sayaka and kyoko are mentioned ever so briefly if yall are wondering, Shinobu Tayaka and father togami are also all mentioned, Togami's family fucking sucks, in case yall were wondering, the oc is momgami, togami family law is aweful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27444772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SammyBoi/pseuds/SammyBoi
Summary: Byakuya Togami has a strong connection to classical music that Makoto witnesses many times. Learning the source for that, as well as becoming closer with Byakuya sheds a lot of light on his familial situation.There are many rules that come with being the Togami Heir
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	Music, Birthdays, And What It Means To Be Home

**Author's Note:**

> they might be ooc i havent written this before but I can blame some of Togami's friendliness on teh fact that this takes place in the 2nd-3rd year if my fanon timeline where he's actively trying to not be as much of a dick so he's a little friendly than you'd expect here but thats all. It's also mostly around his bf so its expected

Enora De Mailly. The Ultimate Classical Musician of Class 52 at Hope's Peak Academy. A foreign student from France. It’s easy to see just how enamored she made everyone from school photos alone. A ladylike smile, bordering on croon just daring anyone to speak against her. Her ambition visible in the countless awards won for the school’s music department in her name. Her sparkling eyes and confident tilt of her head sat beside her classmates, staring down the classes that would follow from the class photo hanging aside 51 others in the halls of the esteemed school.

Makoto saw him, every time. Passing the portraits most others would pay no mind too between classes. Byakuya Togami’s eyes would linger while no one else's would. It was hard to place before, but since befriending the heir he caught these moments more and more. He spent breaks admiring awards showcased around the school, each adorning her name. Slowing in footfalls and looking distantly to her photo on display. The near unnoticeable calm taking his tense shoulders and soothing them down as they pass the music rooms classical practices.

The afternoons Makoto spent looking for Byakuya, only to find himself eavesdropping on the blondes' immaculate playing of the piano. It’s like the world stopped in those moments. Nearly no one else in the halls, the sound of the piano drifted just barely through the door crack Makoto refused to open any wider, scared it would shock Byakuya out of playing.

He asked him once, where he learned to play so well. Byakuya denied it outright, saying he’d never have done something so useless as playing piano after hours. He has homework, he has _business_. Phone calls to make and meetings to run. Makoto knows what he saw. Byakuya knows too. They won’t talk about it.

He asked about the music. ‘ _Seems you really like classical music, huh.’_ The heir would just roll his eyes distantly. Makoto could see the affection in the action, he’s getting better at reading Byakuya. ‘ _Of course, it’s the only music worth listening to.’_

He asked about _her_ eventually. ‘ _Figures, if you like classical so much. You must think the ultimate Classical Musician is pretty cool too!’_ Byakuya would tisk at the observation. Makoto would ignore his reply, watching him look askance. Hearing _something_ in his voice no one else would. Knowing there's something else here beyond admiration. A yearning.

Makoto loves his boyfriend, at least- he thinks he can call Byakuya that. They haven’t said anything official. Makoto doesn’t want to push his luck, there’s something Byakuya’s hiding. Nothing dangerous, something personal. Byakuya barely came out as it is. Struck out of words with Makoto’s confession. It was like watching the ticking of a clock as he let his heart catch up to the present. Makoto would laugh forever at the utter joy followed by confusion Byakuya displayed. He would mourn the long night that followed, wanting to hold Byakuya. Wanting to link pinkies, and kiss his cheek and stare at his lips without regret. Wanting to assure Byakuya he can be honest with Makoto, that he can confide in him. That he can be himself. And have Byakuya believe him. 

They didn’t do any of that. They sat silently within Byakuya’s dorm room. On his bed. Trying to talk, desperate to find confirmation. The night ended with more questions than answers, and the sweet lulling of a violin in the back of their minds.

Nights would pass without a clear confirmation. They’d act like nothing had changed during class. Makoto frustrated Byakuya won’t even spare him a glance. But all too quick to forgive when hesitant knuckles would brush against his in the halls. So small an action, so needy a recipient. So terrified a perpetrator. Makoto never gets straight answers.

“Are we together?”

Silences coursing the space of the dorm. Two boys, inexperienced, longing, and scared.

“We shouldn’t be.”

He wants to cry. Is he angry or sad? Ask him, maybe he’ll know. Unlikely.

“What does that mean!? Byakuya I- please. You can say no, but I need answers.”

He’s silent, staring at Makoto unreadably. His arms are crossed and Makoto feels as if the action itself is pushing him away, he doesn’t have the peace of mind to notice how Byakuya’s fingernails dig into his arms. He steps forward.

“Please… This has been going on for too long. You won’t even look at me in class anymore. Kyoko’s noticed, she’s asking if we’ve stopped being friends… It feels like it. Then you’ll pull me aside like this- and it’s the only time we ever talk anymore. And I always leave more confused…”

He doesn’t know if he’s happy with his breakthrough when he realises Byakuya’s shoulders are raised. Arms crossed, nails deep in his arms. There's guilt written over the blonde's face. Makoto wants to give in and let it go again. He doesn’t want to push this if it’ll hurt Byakuya… But it’s hurting him too.

“Makoto,” He looks up when he realises Byakuya’s finally saying something. His heart aches to hear hesitance in his voice. “...I need to explain something to you. I don’t expect you to understand.”

They spend the night in his dorm again. Sat on his bed. It's not at first, but Makoto’s pinky will be laced with Byakuya’s as they sit. The fluster it brings about will be cherished forever. It’s not the time to tease, they need more time together for that, but a part of Makoto is excited knowing he can embarrass the Togami so easily. For now he gets some answers.

Byakuya’s family is odd. Makoto thinks his sister’s obsession with the girl she met at the bookstore was odd. Or how his mother's cooking always tastes just a little differently when she uses a specific spoon. Or especially how he’s never seen his father stub his toe, despite the unfortunate positioning of the coffee table. Those are all odd family quirks for Makoto. Now he thinks that’s all quite normal in comparison.

Byakuya has so many half siblings he hasn’t met, nor can he name them all. His father barely associates with any of their mothers. They were in a competition from birth to be more excellent than the next. His father chose favourites. Byakuya insists it wasn’t _favourites_ , that it was more technical than that. But Makoto can’t imagine what it would feel like to have your father hand pick 15 kids and tell the rest they aren’t worth another thought. Told your mother surely couldn’t have raised a kid good enough to stand in his presence. Told that you would never measure up to your father, not like your other far more extraordinary siblings. Makoto can’t imagine thinking that was a challenge. Byakuya Togami, 12 years old, making himself known. Telling his father he can’t be overlooked like the countless others. He can’t imagine proving himself and earning the right to look at the 15 favourite kids and telling them a nobody beat them at this fucked up little game their father laid for them. Knowing they’ll leave home to their mothers, and become just as forgotten as those women. Because they’ve been stripped of their fathers name, reduced to no legacy. Because the youngest of the countless beat them to the top in a metaphorical game of king-of-the-hill.

Makoto can’t imagine any of it. Furthermore, he can’t understand why Byakuya knows so well that he will grow up and do just the same. Father children he won't learn the names of, and pit them against each other. It’s a horrifying idea.

“But, they’re your family, right? They’re your siblings! You have to care about them at least a little, right?”

The expression Byakuya gives him is worrisome.

“No. They are nothing now. As I would be if any of them succeeded in my place...As I will be if anyone finds out about how I feel for you.”

He feels so warm, and hopeful, and so cold at the same time. He moves his hand. Unlinking their pinkies and placing his palm over byakuya’s. The heir's reddening face is enough to warm his heart a lifetime.

“So, you do like me!”

Byakuya looks at him incredulously. 

“Was that not clear? I accepted your confession?”

“Yeah and then ghosted me for a week.”

_Touche_. They stare competitively. Byakuya breaks first. Gripping Makoto's hand slightly tighter. It sends butterflies through his stomach.

“... You understand why this won’t work right. How much I can’t risk this.”

His heart falls, but he has hope. He squeezes Byakuya’s hand back comfortingly.

“Can we be a secret? We can go back to being friends in class, and when we’re alone we can have this.”

“I won’t ask you to do that.”

Makoto smiles. Byakuya wants to turn him away. But he can see the determination, the hope, the love. He can’t turn this down. He knows what he wants and for the second time in his life he reaches for it.

“...Okay”

It works. It’s tedious at times and there are moments when all Makoto wants to do is hold Byakuya and never let go. Inevitably Makoto convinced Byakuya to come have dinner with his parents. It went… nightmarishly. Essentially the worst case scenario outside of a breakup. It’s quite the story, maybe to be told another time… But after the wreckage of the night, they were able to try again. 

Makoto knew his home would never compare to Byakuya’s. He figured there'd be little familiarity in his family for his boyfriend. But seeing the polite business-like disposition in which Byakuya interacted was astounding. He ended up wowing the Naegi’s with his financial advice. Too nervous to step back once he started going, Makoto watched as his boyfriend went through the loops of stocks and shares with his parents. His father chuckles to him later than he better keep this one around. 

He felt pride seeing the remote softness that would plague Byakuya’s face in his mother's presence, followed by a deep set and guilty confusion. He didn’t like to think about the second half, he liked seeing Byakuya comfortable with his family. He didn’t see it as much, but when his father asked him why Byakuya stilled at his touch. Why Byakuya couldn’t meet his eye, and when he did; it was a startled fear festering look that held its ground like a standoff. Mr Naegi would always bow out of that competition first, Byakuya’s eyes had a fire burning around a wall that Mr Naegi couldn’t begin to approach. Makoto couldn’t give a straight answer for a while. When he did neither Naegi were happy with it. Makoto would just leave to be by Byakuya’s side, turning on the cooing of a piano as they lay to sleep.

Makoto dared to ask about Byakuya’s mother once. He stilled and stammered. Makoto knew the Togami mothers were considered important but forgettable faces of the Togami conglomerate. Where only the heirs mother was deemed any novelty. Byakuya’s mother had been an exception. Byakuya wasn’t supposed to be heir, and his mother was scorned just as any other by his father, maybe more so for the audacity of her child. Byakuya turned his back on her the day he deemed _his_ name worth more than hers. 12 years old, the winner of the Togami Competition of Succession. He hasn’t seen her since.

“She was a motivated woman the last time I saw her. She was… kind, and crafty.”

“Did she have a name?” Makoto teases lightly. Byakuya’s smile perks just slightly, mischievously almost.

“Enora De Mailly.”

The word home means something different to everyone who uses it. For Makoto _home_ is just as much his classmates, their friendships with him and each other, and the hand he’d offer to any one of them in trying times- as it is his mother, father, and sister all together in the house they’ve been all their lives. Byakuya is home for Makoto just as much as the embrace of his bed, sheets fresh from the drier. The inherent love and familiarity of it. Makoto wants to know what _home_ is for Byakuya Togami.

“Am I privy to where I'm being taken yet?”

“No!! It's a surprise you'll see!” 

Makoto whines teasingly and he guides a blindfolded Byakuya within his dorm. From the door, too the bed.

“You made time right?”

Byakuya scoffs.

“Of course. I had Shinobu mark me busy for the next couple hours. We won't be interrupted.”

“Oh how lucky of me to be able to reserve the presence of _the_ Byakuya Togami”

“Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less of Mr Luck himself.”

They laugh softly at the shared sarcasm, Makoto finally getting his boyfriend seated on the edge of his bed. He swats Byakuya’s hand down when he reaches for the blindfold, he looks unimpressed and Makoto can barely suppress a chuckle.

“Can I take this off yet?”

“Nope! I'll take it off you when everythings ready!”

“Can I at least know the occasion?”

Makoto stopped from where he was moving across the room, disbelief hitting him.

“Byakuya... It's your birthday?”

The silence leaves Makoto incredulously staring at the blindfolded blond sat cross legged on his own bed. He notes how his knee bounces and his head tilts down just slightly with the information.

“...I suppose it is. I didn't realise that was going to garner an event”

“W- of course it would!”

“...Makoto if I take this off and see our classmates ready to startle good wishes onto me, I will manage to appreciate it _later_ but rest assured I will not in the moment.”

“Ah- no I promise it's nothing like that! Figured that might be too much…”

He manages a slight smile as he shuffles, grabbing a small box and walking back to the desk, rearranging the presentation just slightly.

“Then what is it?”

“Wait! You're so impatient!”

Byakuya smiles a wicked little grin at the comment, sitting back a bit as Makoto shuffles in front of him.

“Okay- and here!!”

Makoto moves onto the bed behind Byakuya, gently untying the blindfold and taking it off to reveal the desk. Byakuya’s cocky smile drops to a frozen gaping. Before him, on a desk Makoto had moved, is a small very expensive looking cake. Beside it is an envelope with a very fancy looking pattern, _Byakuya Togami_ written across it. Beside it, further back is a small gift box and another card, doodles over it in bright marker, no doubt Makoto’s doing. Between it all, staring back at Byakuya, is Makoto’s laptop. Open and display a facetime call. On the other end, smiling as softly as the day he left, is Enora De Mailly. Famous Piano player, Ultimate Classical Musician of Class 52, and mother of Byakuya Togami. 

“What- what is-”

“Byakuya! Mon petit trésor!”

“I hope this is okay. I know you don't talk about it much but... you said you hadn't seen your mom in a while. And I know you don't admit it but you seem like you missed her, so-”

“I hope this is alright, mon étoile. I can leave you to a night with your friend if you'd rather. But I wasn’t going to miss a chance to wish mon garçon a happy birthday. And I know that father of yours wouldn't have let me any other way…”

Her smile is strong and pristine, all the same as her posture. Perfectly poised and with the same sly knowing glint Byakuya remembers. He stares, absolutely floored. He feels years of repressed guilt and longing rising within him, he can't hold it back as he sees the peek of well hidden hurt in her eyes. She keeps smiling, patient. He misses her patience. Makoto just continues to smile at him, nervous. Byakuya’s heart pangs at the hesitation. He’s afraid he’s overstepped. He swallows down the storm in his chest and breathes a response.

“How... How did you two do this?” God, he hasn’t shown this much hesitance in years. Disgusting, if Tayaka caught wind of this, much less Mr Togami… Byakuya winces briefly at the thought.

“Oh! I got some help from Sayaka and Kyoko! They were able to reach out to Ms De Mailly in ways that would get her attention!”

“A good head on this one's shoulders. Unfortunately if he had ever sent me an email it wouldn't have batted an eye. A letter from Pop Idol Sayaka Maizono though? That sure turned my secretary's attention!”

The pride on Enora’s face, the approval- well it eases Byakuya with relief immediately. He doesn’t even think to realise how the need to be relieved had been constructed after leaving her. He simply feels a small warmth bloom knowing she approves of Makoto. Makoto himself seems to flush at the simple praise. He lets his face settle into what’s almost a smile by Byakuya standards.

“Uh yeah, once we had contact I was able to ask her if she wanted to set up time now so you two could talk! Since you haven't seen her in a while and you said you wouldn't be allowed. It's on my laptop so your dad won't have any idea!”

He can’t help it, falling into an awestruck silence. He stares between Makoto and his mother for minutes. Too much to process. Guilt, yearning for his mother. Love, as rejected a feeling as it is for him typically, for both Enora and Makoto. Fear, paranoia at the thought of Tayaka finding out and blackmailing him. At father finding out and the punishment that could ensue for breaking the clear rules. He’s tense, he can feel Makoto’s hand on his shoulder. Can see his boyfriend near instinctually moving to hold onto him, sees him backing off with eyes flickering to Enora. _He didn’t tell her of our relationship. It’s for the best._ He feels the damn break as Makoto's pinky links with his under the view of the camera.

  
  


“...Kuya? I'm sorry did I overstep.-”

“Mon petit trésor, do not blame your friend. I wanted this just as much, but I understand if you don't want to see me. I know how much your father's word means to you-”

He’s crying. Hand unoccupied by Makoto quickly comes to cover his mouth as tears well and fall at a startling pace considering how hard he’s tried to hold it together. He feels Makoto jolt beside him in surprise. He can feel the eyes of both on him. He knows Makoto’s at a loss for what to do, knows he wants to comfort him. Byakuya readjusts and takes his hand fully, squeezing gently through his trembling. He can’t believe himself, breaking down like some child. He knows he’ll be paranoid later of eavesdroppers and punishments but at the moment nothing else matters. He has Makoto, the most loving person he’s ever met, the boy who cracked him open and held him and let him bleed his heart out. His mother, who he regrets having wronged so much, who inherently conflicts him as being wrong and rejected by his father and yet who he can't help but daydream about seeing again. And he’s seeing her now. He has her far too close through a screen.

He hears his mother saying something to him, to Makoto. He feels Makoto's hesitant arms wrapping around him and the lulling of his mother's voice speaking french worriedly, soothingly.

“...Thank you. This is-everything. Thank you-”

He knows his voice is whispered, pitiful. He feels relief in Makoto’s hands circling on his back. There’s a feeling that's become to foreign to him enveloping like a bubbling around him.

He feels safe.

“Ah, of course! Happy Birthday, Kuya!”

“Bon anniversaire, mon petit trésor.”

This is what home feels like for Byakuya Togami.

~~Byakuya De Mailly.~~

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope yall like Enora! I've been working on giving faces and established personalities the Byakuya's family; meaning his father, all his half siblings we have names for, and the Togami mothers :D Enora is a fav of mine simply because she was completely mine to make and i could hc anything i wanted for her. Togami's mother doesn't have any even semi canon name to my knowledge so i had fun.
> 
> Note: i don't speak french. Any french i wrote was based off my canadian core student education and the internet. this isnt all the phrases but "Mon Petit Tresor" means "My small treasure" as well as "mon etoile" is "my star" these are both affectionate nicknames Enora uses talking to Byakuya, The final message from her is happy birthday. :)


End file.
